1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to audiovisual systems and methods for storing and playing back audiovisual data, and more specifically, to audiovisual systems and methods which provide audiovisual data tailored to the characteristic viewing preferences of a user.
2. Description of the Related Art
Audiovisual systems, such as personal video recorders, provide users with the capability of storing audiovisual data in digital form on random-access, read/write, non-volatile storage media for later playback. In addition, such audiovisual systems enable users to choose between viewing audiovisual content in “real-time” as it is streamed from the audiovisual data service provider, or storing the streaming audiovisual content and viewing it some time after it has been streamed to the audiovisual system.
By using audiovisual systems which can store the streaming audiovisual content concurrently with viewing stored audiovisual content, a streaming audiovisual segment can be viewed mere seconds after it has been stored, while continuing to store the remaining portion of the streaming audiovisual segment. In addition, the stored audiovisual segment can be viewed on a different date and time from the original streaming of the audiovisual segment.
Such audiovisual systems allow users to influence the quantity and quality of advertisements contained in the audiovisual content as it is viewed. First, by introducing a time delay between the original streaming of an advertisement and its eventual viewing by the user, the time and date of the viewing of the advertisement is controlled by the user, not by the audiovisual data service provider. Second, by using various “trick-play” functions of the audiovisual system, such as fast-forward or skip, the user can avoid viewing advertisements in the form in which they were originally streamed, or can even avoid viewing the advertisements entirely. By empowering the users in this way, such audiovisual systems may reduce the number of actual viewer advertising impressions that occur and may reduce the effectiveness of these impressions. Therefore, the quantity and quality of these viewer advertising impressions are less certain, thereby affecting the efficacy of advertising fee systems in which the fees paid by advertisers are based on these expectations.